Published Knowledge Management Documents

"Knowledge Management helps people turn what they know into ideas that make a difference in personal growth, accomplishment and worth; and helps organisations turn what people know into value, competitive advantage and success."
- Jerry Ash, Chief Executive, Association of Knowledgework.          

As part of a contribution towards a KM training course for CPA Australia, I have written a KM fable, The Ivory Tower. See it in Adobe Acrobat format here - note the copyright conditions in the footer of the document.

Read The Ivory Tower:                            

• "This is a charming KM fable that touches on all parts of KM from avoiding technospeak, to identifying experts, to knowledge sharing and reuse." - elearningpost, 28 Oct 2003
• "Just wanted to congratulate you on your excellent fable and thank you for sharing it with us. It puts the argument for KM very powerfully." - KMLF member
• "An intriguing fable; uses a traditional storytelling device to show how expert knowledge can be captured, shared and reused." "I thought it was a great story and very easily digestible." "This fable could be used in a workshop... read out to the group... worked on in groups - even introduce some role playing." - NHS Improvement Knowledge, UK
• "Had a look at your piece... nice!" - Ross Dawson, CEO, Advanced Human Technologies

I was interviewed by Ana Neves of KMOL about the ideas behind The Ivory Tower - see the interview (in English).

• "Well done! A great interview and a great story/overview of the KnowHow evolution." - Colleague
• "You are in for a treat! The descriptions are of wizards, kings and knowms. In fact it is so precious... There are so many facets... I for one would like to learn more about you, definitely a wizard!" - Debra Amidon, Entovation International

I have also contributed to Jerry Ash's book: Stars of the New Order: What They're Telling Business Leaders.

Knowledge Management

The KnowHow aspect of this is capturing knowledge from product experts, and transferring it to a target sales audience. A related role is contributing to and chairing Knowledge Management Leadership Forum meetings.

• "I would like to thank Keith for all the good work he has done as Chair for the last 6 months – his professionalism and expert leadership would make it very hard for anyone to follow." - New chair, KMLF
• "A quick note to thank you for an interesting and stimulating discussion. I... am looking forward to the next forum. Thanks again." - KMLF member
• "It was such a stimulating debate and had us talking for a long time about it... It was such a successful night and had everybody involved." - KMLF member
• "Well done Keith, during your time as Chair you have moved the KMLF to a new dimension. Congratulations." - KMLF committee member
• "...and thanks to our regular contributors who are the 'quiet' Stars... [including] Keith De La Rue... in this series." - Jerry Ash
• "Thanks for inviting me to today's presentation. It was great to get an in-depth picture of KnowHow, which I must say is more impressive the more I learn about it. ...sounds like you guys are really set up to get feedback and manage actions for it... " - Knowledge Manager

Note: For an external view of the work of KnowHow, and the iVelocity team of which it was a part, see the Standards Australia case study in Rollo, C & Clarke, T (2001): International best practice: Case Studies in KM. HB 275 Supp. 1 - 2001. The full document was previously available for purchase from the Standards Australia site, but it now appears to have been withdrawn from sale. See also the summary of an Australian Financial Review - Boss Magazine article at Spiro Raftopoulos's Knowledge Management Dynamics site.

Public Speaking on Knowledge Management

I have presented on various aspects of KM and related areas at a number of conferences in both Singapore and Australia since early 2004. These have included conferences on Internal Communications, Change Management, conducting Focus Groups and Electronic Document & Record Management. The conference organisers have included Ark Group, IIR and Learning Network Solutions. Conference activities have included case study presentation, panel discussions, chairing and workshop facilitation (half and full day).

• "Thank you for presenting at our EDRM Conference. Needless to say, your presentation was generally well received. On a scale of 1 (poor) to 7 (excellent) you ranked between 6 and 7. There was a general consensus that you had an excellent presentation... You were also commended on timekeeping as well as making good summaries as chairperson... Thanks again and I hope to receive your support for future events." - Conference Manager.
• "Effective style... Interaction with group was promoted. Continuous sharing of lessons learned. Has ability to make audience feel at ease and comfortable to share." - Workshop participant.
• "I liked your presentation a lot. Lots of good stuff... I found it engaging. Well done." - Colleague.
• "Good speaker... Good content." - Workshop participants.
• "Good discussion on how focus groups discussions should be done. Good workshop, thoroughly enjoyed it." - Workshop participant.

Training Workshop Delivery

One of the training formats used at KnowHow is known as "Two Hours of Power" - a sales-focussed session, including a role-play or other form of knowledge reinforcement.

• "...the staff indicated that the sessions were very beneficial to them... This method of delivery is by far the best way to address the training issue because it provides for very valuable interaction between the trainer and the audience... Keith was very good and his method of delivery was welcomed by all." - Account Director
• "Just did the '2 Hours of Power' on ADSL... Fantastic! Best training I've done in Telstra. Short, sharp, focused, ideal for sales people." - Account Director
• "Thanks Keith - the sessions proved extremely fruitful - well done!" - Sales Manager

Training Development

"Two Hours of Power" (2HP) and other delivery formats.

• "This was the best." "Very clear and precise." "Very informative in a language we understand." - Sales staff
• "Keith, thanks to you and the team... great effort everyone especially based on the shortened delivery lead-time." - Manager
• "Keith, congratulations - this is fantastic. ...you are adding value in the development and delivery of the knowledge program. ...the format is a great variation on 2HP - I like it and it seems very appropriate to maximise potential revenue." - Manager

Multi-media Presentation Scripting

ProductStream is a short, scripted Intranet streaming video or audio with a slide pack, viewed in a Web browser.

• "The ProductStream was sensational... Wow, two thumbs up." - Senior Product Manager
• "It was simple, informative and well presented - thank you for the information." - Proposal Manager
• "This looks great. Thank you so much for your help." - Project Manager

Video Filming & Editing

Short corporate video production.

• "Well done Keith, it was thoughtful of you to put this together." - Marketing Manager
• "This is excellent - good job." - Executive Aide

Technical Writing

KnowHow provides a number of standardised document formats for delivery of knowledge in an on-line library. These may be created or edited by team members.

• "...the Product Guide is sensational, exactly what I've had in mind; a comprehensive overview of the product from a sales perspective... Good stuff!" - Manager
• "Great work as usual..." - Product Manager
• "Looks fine to me. You've done exceptionally well to gain buy-in from everyone." - Marketing Manager
• "It reads very well and it's very informative." - Marketing Manager
• "Sigh - if only everyone wrote as clearly as you do... I have to tell you it is a very useable document because of the clarity with which you write. It is a real talent and one which is often hard to find..." - Colleague

Editing

Editing the Sales KnowHow Bulletin, a weekly web-based product and campaign newsletter, and other documents.

• "Just want to thank you for providing great information in the Sales KnowHow Bulletin... It's a great way to keep informed on what's happening with products in all areas of the business." - Process Analyst
• "I wanted to say thank you for your great editing of the KnowHow bulletin. It read extremely well, so thanks." - Product Manager
• "Great editing, it definitely tightens the messages." - Product Manager
• "Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to give us feedback - your suggestions were very useful and we made quite a few improvements as a result. Thanks again." - Knowledge Manager
• "Great Keith! Perfect with your editing. You have a fine skill with words. I must say they sound so much better when you do them!" - Knowledge Manager

Web Design

This site...

• "New site looks great. I love your new 'look' - the font is wonderful and the look is very up to date." - Helen Bradley
• "I just had a look at the web site and it is great." - Richard Michalak
• "Thank you for maintaining such a wonderful site for On the Beach. I enjoyed so very much reading about it, including many facts of which I was unaware. The photos were a nice touch. Thank you again for such an excellent presentation." - Jerry Merrell, USA, Nov 2004.

Creative Writing

Stories and newsletter articles.

• "...wanted to drop you a line about how encouraging I found your item in today's newsletter. " - Reader
• "Congratulations on your Indefinite Article which has become my major source of interest in TableAus." - Reader
• "Keep up the excellent work." - Antonella Gambotto, Author and Mensa member
• "I always enjoy Keith De La Rue's articles, and his piece on spam was particularly good." - TableAus reader, June 2004
• "Definitely enjoying your article." - TableAus reader, July 2004

Quizmaster

The "iKnowItAll" Quiz is an on-line tool used by KnowHow to provide a fun and effective way of learning. This has extended into other quiz-based activities both paid and outside work, including developing and delivering fund-raising Trivia Nights.

• "Great fun. Great way to learn. Congratulations to the person who wrote the reference material - this is the clearest concise information I have read on the topic. This quiz was LOTS OF FUN and has now made me feel confident about my understanding..." - Account Executive
• "Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed having a go at the quiz... This is a great initiative... A fun way to learn about products - 'two thumbs up' from me." - Product Manager
• "Tonight was fantastic - congratulations to the organisers." "Fantastic. Lots of fun!" "Well done!" - Trivia night participants

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* Footnote: Dr. John Paterson sent me this note when he left Telstra in 2002. Sadly, he passed away in February 2003.